A Family Christmas
by Maithduine
Summary: When the group is stuck in Norway for the holidays, can everyone still have a Merry Christmas?


A Family Christmas  
  
OK, I know I haven't written a fic since my first one, but with college applications, senior year, and work, it's been tough. With the Christmas break, however, I managed to get this in. Once again, Action Man belongs to Mainframe, not me. Oh, I kinda took some liberties with their pasts and where they might live, that's all my creation, though your free to use it. Enjoy and happy holidays!  
  
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"What do you mean closed!" Fidget Wilson shrieked. "The runway can't be closed, it's Christmas Eve!"  
  
"I'm sorry miss, but it's a blizzard, it's just too dangerous," the apologetic attendant behind the counter told her. "The flight will either be rescheduled or you'll be refunded, but there's nothing else we can do."  
  
Fidget's cell phone rang, and she snapped it open. "Rikkie?"  
  
"Yea Fidge, let me guess, the flight's a no go?"  
  
"All flights to LA delayed until further notice"  
  
"Same with all flights to New Mexico, Colorado and London."  
  
"Same with all outgoing flights I'd imagine. You just had to schedule Alex's last show before the winter break in Norway didn't you?"  
  
"Winter games at this time of year are popular! Norway's great snowboarding! How did I know we'd get stranded?"  
  
"And there's no way we're taking off in Big Air?"  
  
"Grinder insists we'd all die, and don't even suggest Little Air, Alex has already hidden the keys so you wont try it."  
  
"So what now?" she muttered dejectedly.  
  
"Meet us at the entrance, Grinder says he can get the car back to Big Air and we'll keep calling the airport until we get better news." Rikkie hung up and Fidget sighed. Acceleration Games were year round, since the events involved spanned all seasons. To give those on the circuit a rest, there were three week breaks four times a year. Christmas marked the beginning of the winter break, when she ditched the boys and went back to her apartment in Los Angeles. Fidget didn't have a big family, her mother had died when she was very young, so it was just her, her father, and her older brother Eric. She missed them when she was on the road. Well, she missed Eric. She and her father had never been eye to eye on a lot of stuff, including her career choice. Now though, she would even miss that old argument. Picking up her backpack and grabbing Vinnie's carrier she headed for the entrance. Norway! Oh she'd have Rikkie's head for this.  
  
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The SUV carefully made it's way through the snow drifts which were seemingly everywhere. The car was strangely quiet for team Xtreme, Grinder being very careful at the wheel and Fidget and Rikkie staring solemnly out the windows. Alex felt strangely out of place. True, his flight had also been canceled. With three weeks free he had been headed to Simon Grey's for the training they normally had no time for. Instead he would be hanging out with his friends. Truth be told, his Christmas was looking up. Alex didn't have an actual family, he had been in an orphanage earliest he could remember, and had no records of any relatives. Mann probably wasn't even his real name. Christmas had never been anything more then a bowl of punch, some stale cookies, and some volunteer workers that came to read The Night Before Christmas. After he left the orphanage and made friends with Grinder he had been invited for Christmas in England every year. Every year he had declined. He always felt he'd be intruding on something, and so Christmas had been spent alone. He hadn't been surprised to hear everyone announce they were leaving for the holidays, but now it looked like only one had made it out. Brandon had choosen to leave yesterday, since he hadn't been needed for the show. He hadn't seen his family since he had gone to Dr. X. Brandon was embarrassed, Alex supposed, of what he had done. A week ago, however, he had approached Alex privately.  
  
"I bought my plane ticket and left a message on my parent's machine. I'm going home."  
  
"You ready for this man?"  
  
"Hey, if there's ever a time for renewing relationships, I guess it's Christmas. I mean, if they can't forgive me now, they never will."  
  
Alex had received a very happy phone call last night, Brandon had arrived safe, and was welcomed home with open arms. Alex could hear the voices of Brandon's family in the background calling him back to the reunion, so Alex said good-bye with a wistful smile. You wouldn't think you could miss what you never had.  
  
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Grinder helped Fidget haul her bags back into Big Air. Normally she would protest, but she was in fact rather small, okay, at four foot eleven she was very small, and the Norwegian snow was very high, and if you added the wind she was lucky she could walk at all.  
  
The door of the Big Air slammed behind them with sickening finality. No one was making it back out for Christmas. Looking at the snow out side the widow, they would be lucky to make it out for New Years. The tiny plastic tree on the conference table blinked at them as Grinder restarted the main systems and turned the heat back on.  
  
Rikkie slammed down his phone and groaned. "Who wants the latest round of fantastic news?"  
  
"Let me guess," Fidget sighed, "The storm is disrupting all signals, which means we can't get television or phone reception."  
  
"Right in one," Rikkie plopped down in a chair. "I'm not coming home, and I'm not calling to say I can't come home. Mama is going to kill me."  
  
"She'll call the airport and they'll tell her the flight was canceled. It'll be okay Rik, she won't worry," Grinder told him, pulling food out of the cabinet. "It could be worse. We could be among those poor people who will be spending Christmas at the airport, or at least in the hotel across the street. We'll just celebrate here. It's home for most of the year anyway."  
  
Fidget gave a small smile. "Your probably right Grinder, I mean, we'll be out soon enough, and we're still with people we love."  
  
"Aww, Figde is getting mushy," Rikkie teased.  
  
She threw a pillow at him. "Don't get used to it, it's Christmas so I'm allowed."  
  
"She's right actually," Grinder said.  
  
"She's allowed to get mushy?" Rikkie looked up at him.  
  
"No, I mean yeah she is, but I was talking about the Christmas part. Look at your watch."  
  
Everyone glanced down at there wrists to see 12:01am. Alex looked up and grinned. His first Christmas with his true family.  
  
Fidget got up and hugged him. Then everyone was hugging, and even Rikkie was smiling. Fidget produced Christmas music from her backpack and she made Alex dance to 'The Little St. Nick' while Grinder found the Christmas cookies he had meant to take to London.   
  
Grinders sat down in a chair and watched. Soon Alex sunk into the one next to him as Fidget dragged a laughing Rikkie to his feet for 'Jingle Bell Rock.' "Gingerbread?" Grinder offered.  
  
"No thanks," he shook his head. "So this is Christmas, huh?"  
  
"Not much if you take away the glitz the department stores throw on it. This is about it, music, food, good hearted arguments and family." He smiled as Rikkie dipped Fidget. "Your going to miss some valuable training time for this. Disappointed?" he asked his friend, already aware of the answer.  
  
"I wouldn't trade this for the world," Alex confirmed.   
  
The song ended and Fidget and Rikkie disappeared to different parts of the plane. When Fidge returned she carried a rather disgruntled iguana who had just had a red bow tied around it's neck. She grinned and set him on her shoulder. Rikke returned with four glasses of milk. "We didn't have egg knog, so this will have to do." He announced.  
He raised a glass, "To dancing with beautiful redheads after midnight and reminding me what it was like to be 21!"  
  
Fidget giggled, "To snowfall and memories of this Christmas we'll tell our grandkids about one day!"  
  
Grinder lifted his own glass, "To peace on earth, which we will help achieve."  
  
Alex looked at them carefully, the organizational freak who somehow managed to run four lives and still have beliefs he would stand for, the laid back techie who had become his friend at age 18 and forced him to resign his loner status, and the hyperactive tomboy who kept them all laughing, who any of them would defend as they would their own sister. "To Christmas with family, be it blood or otherwise. Merry Christmas your guys."  
  
Four glasses clinked together. "Merry Christmas," they repeated.  
  
  



End file.
